Every Successful Money In The Bank Cash-In: How Good Was The Title Reign?
- Umar Usman
- Jun 14, 2022
- 10 min read
WWE introduced Money in the Bank in 2005. The concept was simple: there would be a ladder match between a few wrestlers for a money in the bank briefcase, and the winner would get a guaranteed World title shot anytime, anywhere within the next year. The concept sounded very interesting, and it has resulted in many memorable cash-ins and great title reigns. However, over the past few years, the prestige of the Money in the Bank has gone down as we have seen some mediocre (if successfull at all…) cash-ins. Let’s take a look at each title reign from a successful MITB cash-in, and see how good they were.
Edge (January 8, 2006 – January 29, 2006)
Edge won the inaugural Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21. After waiting for many months, Edge finally cashed in his contract on the WWE Champion John Cena at New Year’s Revolution 2006, just after Cena had competed in an Elimination Chamber match. The cash-in was very memorable and is still one of the best cash-ins ever. Despite the short length of the title reign, it was a pretty important one for Edge. Edge’s famous live sex celebration with Lita took place during this reign. Edge also had a great TLC match against Ric Flair. At Royal Rumble the same month, Edge lost the title back to Cena, but the reign had proved Edge’s talent and he would go on to win many more World Titles.
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Rating: 7/10
Rob Van Dam (June 11, 2006 – July 3, 2006)
Rob Van Dam had been a very popular wrestler throughout his career, but it was only in 2006 when he tasted World Championship success for the first time, and unfortunately the last time as well. Unlike Edge, RVD announced his cash-in on John Cena beforehand at ECW One Night Stand. A great start to the title reign, but everyone knows how it ended. We can’t blame WWE for not putting the belt on RVD once again, but I wish we had got a proper RVD World title reign.
Rating: 3/10
Edge (May 11, 2007 – July 20, 2007)
The original Money in the Bank winner in 2007 was Mr. Kennedy, but he lost his briefcase to Edge when it was found that he had an injury. It was found later that he wasn’t injured though, but it didn’t matter as Edge went on to cash in the contract on The Undertaker at Smackdown to win the World Heavyweight Title. The cash-in was quite memorable, but the reign wasn’t. Edge had a feud with Batista, but their matches didn’t really click. Decent title reign but nothing special.
Rating: 5/10
CM Punk (June 30, 2008 – September 7, 2008)
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After having cashed in the contract twice, Edge found himself in the receiving end in 2008 when CM Punk cashed in his contract on him to win the World Heavyweight title. We all know how great CM Punk is, but his first world title reign wasn’t good at all. Both his title matches against Batista and JBL were quite uninteresting. The end of the reign was also quite forgettable as he was replaced in the Championship Scramble by Chris Jericho due to an attack by The Legacy.
Rating: 2.5/10
CM Punk (June 7, 2009 – July 26, 2009)
Thankfully, WWE did not give up on CM Punk after the previous bad title reign and gave him a chance once again in 2009. Punk cashed in the contract on Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules, just after he had won the World Heavyweight Title against Edge. This reign started the slow heel turn of CM Punk. He had some pretty enjoyable matches against Jeff Hardy and he lost the title back to him at Night of Champions. Not a very long title reign, but a huge upgrade from the last.
Rating: 6/10
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Jack Swagger (April 2, 2010 – June 20, 2010)
Jack Swagger’s title reign killed the World Heavyweight title for a while. Even the money in the bank briefcase didn’t want Swagger to win! Jokes apart, I actually like Swagger but he wasn’t really main event talent, definitely not in 2010. This title reign was a waste of Money in the bank, and someone else could have benefitted from winning it. Seriously, nothing from this reign was good. Swagger was booked as a joke, constantly losing TV matches, and his matches were also very boring. A-W-F-U-L.
Rating: 1/10
Kane (July 18, 2010 – December 19, 2010)
This title reign is tough to talk about. I’m a huge fan of Kane and thus, I was happy when he won the title at Money in the Bank 2010. However, the title reign….. Well, it didn’t exactly turn out well. His feud with Undertaker was bad, and the feud with Edge was even worse. Only the last match of this reign was great, with most of the other matches being pretty much unwatchable. At least Kane got a proper run with the title here, so I don’t mind this reign much.
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Rating: 3/10
The Miz (November 22, 2010 – May 1, 2011)
Another interesting title reign. The Miz was the perfect candidate to win Money in the Bank, He was a cowardly heel who would do anything in the book for an easy win. When he won the WWE title from Randy Orton, I had high hopes from The Miz as a main-eventer. However, the title reign was pretty much a failure. He was booked as a joke and he couldn’t win matches on his own. He was extremely weak during the reign, and as a result, we never saw Miz as WWE champion until 2021. It was still a decent reign though, as Miz’s promos were highly entertaining.
Rating: 3.5/10
Alberto Del Rio (August 14, 2011 – September 18, 2011)
There’s no doubt that Alberto Del Rio deserved to win the World title at some point. However, it was impossible for Del Rio to have a proper title reign during the Summer of Punk. This cash-in felt rushed and felt like WWE did it just so we don’t have a failed cash-in.
Rating: 2/10
Daniel Bryan (December 18, 2011 – April 1, 2012)
Daniel Bryan would go on to have great title reigns, but his World Heavyweight Title Reign wasn’t it. Everyone was happy when Bryan won the belt at TLC, but his goofy gimmick didn’t help. His booking wasn’t that good and he didn’t feel like a legitimate champion. To make matters worse, he lost the title to Sheamus in only 18 SECONDS. Not only was the 18 second loss bad for Bryan, it also affected Sheamus’ popularity.
Rating: 2.5/10
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Dolph Ziggler (April 8, 2013 – June 16, 2013)
This title reign hurts me the most. Dolph Ziggler was very popular among the fans and when he cashed in the contract, he got one of the loudest pops ever. He had a lot of potential as World Champion, but unfortunately, he couldn’t have a proper reign due to injury. He lost the belt to Del Rio and we never saw Ziggler as a World Champion again. Such a shame…
Rating: 2/10
Randy Orton (August 18, 2013 – September 15, 2013)
After Daniel Bryan won the WWE title at SummerSlam 2013, Randy Orton quickly crashed his celebrations as he cashed in his MITB contract to win the title. Randy Orton joined forces with Triple H. This title reign wasn’t very long, but it was very good. Orton had good storylines with Cody Rhodes and Goldust, before losing the belt to Daniel Bryan at Night of Champions.
Rating: 6/10
Seth Rollins (March 29, 2015 – November 4, 2015)
Seth Rollins cashed in his contract in the most memorable way possible, as he cashed it in during the main event of WrestleMania 31 between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. Rollins is a great wrestler, and thus he had many great matches during the reign, even on TV. However, his booking was questionable as he lost many matches. He even got pinned by J&J Security on TV. The title reign ended in a very disappointing manner, as Rollins had to vacate the belt due to an injury. Regardless, the number of great matches ensure a high rating for this reign.
Rating: 6.5/10
Sheamus (November 22, 2015 – December 14, 2015)
Talk about a bad title reign! After it was clear that no one wanted to see Roman Reigns as world champion, WWE decided to put the belt on another guy whom no one wanted to see as the world champion. Sheamus is a solid worker, but 2015 Sheamus was a joke and shouldn’t even have been near the World title scene. Sheamus lost the title back to Reigns on RAW and went back to being a jobber-to-the-stars.
Rating: 1/10
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Dean Ambrose (June 19, 2016 – September 11, 2016)
Dean Ambrose was quite popular in 2016, and everyone wanted to see him as champion. The fans’ wish got fulfilled at Money in the Bank PPV where Ambrose won the title from Seth Rollins. The title win was good but the title reign? Not really. After he retained the title in a Shield Triple threat at Battleground, he had a disappointing title match against Dolph Ziggler. WWE then put the belt on AJ Styles and that was it for Ambrose as a main eventer. The title reign was decent, but didn’t do much for Ambrose’s career.
Rating: 5/10
Carmella (April 10, 2018 – August 19, 2018)
In 2017, we saw the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match which was won by Carmella. Carmella waited a long time before cashing in her contract and also failed many times. Finally, on the Smackdown after WrestleMania 34, Carmella managed to successfully cash in the contract and won the Smackdown Women’s title from Charlotte Flair. The title win was good but the reign was bad. She had an awful feud with Asuka. The “women’s evolution” was affected during this title reign as it was evolving, taking a few steps backwards with all the James Ellsworth crap.
Rating: 1.5/10
Alexa Bliss (June 17, 2018 – August 19, 2018)
Since the 2016 WWE draft, Alexa Bliss was constantly champion. For some reason, an accomplished wrestler like her won the MITB in 2018. I like Alexa Bliss, but she didn’t really need the win. The title reign wasn’t that special either, as she only held the belt to eventually lose it to Ronda Rousey.
Rating: 3/10
Bayley (May 19, 2019 – October 6, 2019)
When Bayley won the Money in the Bank in 2019, she definitely deserved it. She cashed in the contract the same night to win the Smackdown Women’s Title. Following the title win, Bayley had feuds with Alexa Bliss and Ember Moon, before she lost the belt to Charlotte Flair. This reign in particular isn’t that spectacular, but it was an important one for Bayley’s career as it was the start of Bayley’s run at the top.
Rating: 4/10
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Brock Lesnar (July 14, 2019 – August 11, 2019)
Brock Lesnar is easily the weirdest MITB winner ever. He didn’t need the briefcase at all but WWE wanted him to win the title from Rollins to have a storyline between the two once again, and have Rollins win the title in a proper match. It was too late for Rollins as he had lost all his momentum, and this reign felt very pointless. At least the SummerSlam match was great.
Rating: 2/10
Asuka (April 15, 2020 – July 20, 2020)
This wasn’t even a cash-in as Becky Lynch just gave the title to Asuka as Lynch was taking a break due to pregnancy. Asuka went on to have a pretty solid title reign. She had good matches against the likes of Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks. In fact, it was Sasha Banks who defeated Asuka on RAW to end the title reign.
Rating: 6/10
The Miz (February 21, 2021 – March 1, 2021)
The original Men’s MITB winner in 2020 was Otis, but he lost the briefcase to The Miz. As mentioned earlier, Miz has potential, but no one really wanted to see him as champion in 2021. He did win the title from Drew McIntyre, but only held it for 8 days before losing it to Bobby Lashley. Well… this existed.
Rating: 1/10
Nikki A.S.H (July 19, 2021 – August 21, 2021)
Nikki A.S.H. is a pretty weird superhero gimmick, and the fact that she won the title with this gimmick is even weirder. She cashed in her contract on Charlotte Flair on RAW. The title reign wasn’t that long though, as she only held it for little over a month before losing it back to Charlotte at SummerSlam.
Rating: 2/10
Big E (September 13, 2021 – January 1, 2022)
Make no mistake about it, I like Big E and think he could have been a main eventer if he wasn’t part of New Day. But, I don’t think he should have won the contract. Big E is someone who should have won the belt fair and square due to his impressive size and loveable face persona. Nonetheless, Big E successfully cashed in his contract on Bobby Lashley to win the WWE title. It felt like a dream come true as fans had wanted him to win the title for a long time. He had a few good matches against the likes of Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre during the reign. Big E lost the belt to Brock Lesnar in a great fatal five way match at Day One 2022. Quickly after losing the belt, Big E was back to being part of The New Day feuding with the likes of… Butch? The reign was solid, but it didn’t do much for Big E. At the end of the day though, I am just glad he got a proper run with the title.
Rating: 5.5/10
And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Have a nice day!
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Written by:
Rishabh Singh
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